Google Workspace

Google Workspace

Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Contacts, Sheets, and Docs — through Hermes-managed OAuth and a thin CLI wrapper. When gws is installed, the skill uses it as the execution backend for broader Google Workspace coverage; otherwise it falls back to the bundled Python client implementation.

When to Use

• User asks to search, read, send, or reply to Gmail messages.
• User asks to list, create, or delete Calendar events.
• User asks to search, upload, download, share, or delete Drive files.
• User asks to read, create, or append to Google Sheets or Docs.
• User asks to list Google Contacts.
• User mentions keywords: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Contacts, Workspace.

If the user needs email only and has not already set up this skill, prefer the himalaya skill (Gmail App Password, 2-minute setup, no Google Cloud project). Load the himalaya skill and follow its setup instructions.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+ installed and on PATH.
• A Google Cloud OAuth Desktop client (google_client_secret.json).
• Required APIs enabled in Google Cloud Console: Gmail API, Google Calendar API, Google Drive API, Google Sheets API, Google Docs API, People API.
• On Windows (PowerShell), use the same commands but adjust path separators. The scripts are Python and cross-platform; $GSETUP / $GAPI shorthands use bash syntax — on PowerShell define them as:

  $GSETUP = "python $env:HERMES_HOME\skills\productivity\google-workspace\scripts\setup.py"
  $GAPI   = "python $env:HERMES_HOME\skills\productivity\google-workspace\scripts\google_api.py"
  

  If HERMES_HOME is unset, default to $HOME/.hermes (bash) or $env:USERPROFILE\.hermes (PowerShell).

References

• references/gmail-search-syntax.md — Gmail search operators (is:unread, from:, newer_than:, has:attachment, etc.). Load this file with skill_view("google-workspace", file_path="references/gmail-search-syntax.md") whenever the user asks for a complex Gmail search or you are unsure of the correct operator syntax.

Scripts

• scripts/setup.py — OAuth2 setup (run once to authorize). Also handles --check, --revoke, --install-deps.
• scripts/google_api.py — compatibility wrapper CLI. Prefers gws for operations when available, while preserving Hermes' existing JSON output contract.

Procedure

First-Time Setup

The setup is fully non-interactive — you drive it step by step so it works on CLI, Telegram, Discord, or any platform.

Define a shorthand first:

GSETUP="python ${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/productivity/google-workspace/scripts/setup.py"

Step 0: Check if already set up

$GSETUP --check

If it prints AUTHENTICATED, skip to Usage — setup is already done.

Step 1: Triage — ask the user what they need

Before starting OAuth setup, ask the user TWO questions:

Question 1: "What Google services do you need? Just email, or also Calendar/Drive/Sheets/Docs?"

• Email only → They don't need this skill at all. Use the himalaya skill instead — it works with a Gmail App Password (Settings → Security → App Passwords) and takes 2 minutes to set up. No Google Cloud project needed. Load the himalaya skill and follow its setup instructions.
• Email + Calendar → Continue with this skill, but use --services email,calendar during auth so the consent screen only asks for the scopes they actually need.
• Calendar/Drive/Sheets/Docs only → Continue with this skill and use a narrower --services set like calendar,drive,sheets,docs.
• Full Workspace access → Continue with this skill and use the default all service set.

Question 2: "Does your Google account use Advanced Protection (hardware security keys required to sign in)? If you're not sure, you probably don't — it's something you would have explicitly enrolled in."

• No / Not sure → Normal setup. Continue below.
• Yes → Their Workspace admin must add the OAuth client ID to the org's allowed apps list before Step 4 will work. Let them know upfront.

Step 2: Create OAuth credentials (one-time, ~5 minutes)

Tell the user:

You need a Google Cloud OAuth client. This is a one-time setup:

1. Create or select a project: https://console.cloud.google.com/projectselector2/home/dashboard
2. Enable the required APIs from the API Library: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library Enable: Gmail API, Google Calendar API, Google Drive API, Google Sheets API, Google Docs API, People API
3. Create the OAuth client here: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client ID
4. Application type: "Desktop app" → Create
5. If the app is still in Testing, add the user's Google account as a test user here: https://console.cloud.google.com/auth/audience Audience → Test users → Add users
6. Download the JSON file and tell me the file path

Important Hermes CLI note: if the file path starts with /, do NOT send only the bare path as its own message in the CLI, because it can be mistaken for a slash command. Send it in a sentence instead, like: The JSON file path is: /home/user/Downloads/client_secret_....json

Once they provide the path:

$GSETUP --client-secret /path/to/client_secret.json

If they paste the raw client ID / client secret values instead of a file path, write a valid Desktop OAuth JSON file for them yourself, save it somewhere explicit (for example ~/Downloads/hermes-google-client-secret.json), then run --client-secret against that file.

Step 3: Get authorization URL

Use the service set chosen in Step 1. Examples:

$GSETUP --auth-url --services email,calendar --format json
$GSETUP --auth-url --services calendar,drive,sheets,docs --format json
$GSETUP --auth-url --services all --format json

This returns JSON with an auth_url field and also saves the exact URL to ~/.hermes/google_oauth_last_url.txt.

Agent rules for this step:

• Extract the auth_url field and send that exact URL to the user as a single line.
• Tell the user that the browser will likely fail on http://localhost:1 after approval, and that this is expected.
• Tell them to copy the ENTIRE redirected URL from the browser address bar.
• If the user gets Error 403: access_denied, send them directly to https://console.cloud.google.com/auth/audience to add themselves as a test user.

Step 4: Exchange the code

The user will paste back either a URL like http://localhost:1/?code=4/0A...&scope=... or just the code string. Either works. The --auth-url step stores a temporary pending OAuth session locally so --auth-code can complete the PKCE exchange later, even on headless systems:

$GSETUP --auth-code "THE_URL_OR_CODE_THE_USER_PASTED" --format json

If --auth-code fails because the code expired, was already used, or came from an older browser tab, it now returns a fresh fresh_auth_url. In that case, immediately send the new URL to the user and have them retry with the newest browser redirect only.

Step 5: Verify

$GSETUP --check

Should print AUTHENTICATED. Setup is complete — token refreshes automatically from now on.

Usage

All commands go through the API script. Set GAPI as a shorthand:

GAPI="python ${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/productivity/google-workspace/scripts/google_api.py"

Gmail

# Search (returns JSON array with id, from, subject, date, snippet)
$GAPI gmail search "is:unread" --max 10
$GAPI gmail search "from:boss@company.com newer_than:1d"
$GAPI gmail search "has:attachment filename:pdf newer_than:7d"

# Read full message (returns JSON with body text)
$GAPI gmail get MESSAGE_ID

# Send
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Message text"
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Report" --body "<h1>Q4</h1><p>Details...</p>" --html
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --from '"Research Agent" <user@example.com>' --body "Message text"

# Reply (automatically threads and sets In-Reply-To)
$GAPI gmail reply MESSAGE_ID --body "Thanks, that works for me."
$GAPI gmail reply MESSAGE_ID --from '"Support Bot" <user@example.com>' --body "Thanks"

# Labels
$GAPI gmail labels
$GAPI gmail modify MESSAGE_ID --add-labels LABEL_ID
$GAPI gmail modify MESSAGE_ID --remove-labels UNREAD

Calendar

# List events (defaults to next 7 days)
$GAPI calendar list
$GAPI calendar list --start 2026-03-01T00:00:00Z --end 2026-03-07T23:59:59Z

# Create event (ISO 8601 with timezone required)
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Team Standup" --start 2026-03-01T10:00:00-06:00 --end 2026-03-01T10:30:00-06:00
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Lunch" --start 2026-03-01T12:00:00Z --end 2026-03-01T13:00:00Z --location "Cafe"
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Review" --start 2026-03-01T14:00:00Z --end 2026-03-01T15:00:00Z --attendees "alice@co.com,bob@co.com"

# Delete event
$GAPI calendar delete EVENT_ID

Drive

# Search existing files
$GAPI drive search "quarterly report" --max 10
$GAPI drive search "mimeType='application/pdf'" --raw-query --max 5

# Get metadata for a single file
$GAPI drive get FILE_ID

# Upload a local file (auto-detects MIME type)
$GAPI drive upload /path/to/report.pdf
$GAPI drive upload /path/to/image.png --name "Logo.png" --parent FOLDER_ID

# Download (binary files download as-is; Google-native files export to a
# sensible default — Docs→pdf, Sheets→csv, Slides→pdf, Drawings→png)
$GAPI drive download FILE_ID
$GAPI drive download DOC_ID --output ~/doc.pdf
$GAPI drive download DOC_ID --export-mime text/plain --output ~/doc.txt

# Create a folder
$GAPI drive create-folder "Reports"
$GAPI drive create-folder "Q4" --parent FOLDER_ID

# Share
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --email alice@example.com --role reader
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --email alice@example.com --role writer --notify
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --type anyone --role reader        # anyone with link
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --type domain --domain example.com --role reader

# Delete — defaults to trash (reversible). Use --permanent to skip the trash.
$GAPI drive delete FILE_ID
$GAPI drive delete FILE_ID --permanent

Contacts

$GAPI contacts list --max 20

Sheets

# Create a new spreadsheet
$GAPI sheets create --title "Q4 Budget"
$GAPI sheets create --title "Inventory" --sheet-name "Stock"

# Read
$GAPI sheets get SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A1:D10"

# Write
$GAPI sheets update SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A1:B2" --values '[["Name","Score"],["Alice","95"]]'

# Append rows
$GAPI sheets append SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A:C" --values '[["new","row","data"]]'

Docs

# Read
$GAPI docs get DOC_ID

# Create a new Doc (optionally seeded with body text)
$GAPI docs create --title "Meeting Notes"
$GAPI docs create --title "Draft" --body "First paragraph..."

# Append text to the end of an existing Doc
$GAPI docs append DOC_ID --text "Additional content to append"

Output Format

All commands return JSON. Parse with jq or read directly. Key fields:

• Gmail search: [{id, threadId, from, to, subject, date, snippet, labels}]
• Gmail get: {id, threadId, from, to, subject, date, labels, body}
• Gmail send/reply: {status: "sent", id, threadId}
• Calendar list: [{id, summary, start, end, location, description, htmlLink}]
• Calendar create: {status: "created", id, summary, htmlLink}
• Drive search: [{id, name, mimeType, modifiedTime, webViewLink}]
• Drive get: {id, name, mimeType, modifiedTime, size, webViewLink, parents, owners}
• Drive upload: {status: "uploaded", id, name, mimeType, webViewLink}
• Drive download: {status: "downloaded", id, name, path, mimeType}
• Drive create-folder: {status: "created", id, name, webViewLink}
• Drive share: {status: "shared", permissionId, fileId, role, type}
• Drive delete: {status: "trashed" | "deleted", fileId, permanent}
• Contacts list: [{name, emails: [...], phones: [...]}]
• Sheets get: [[cell, cell, ...], ...]
• Sheets create: {status: "created", spreadsheetId, title, spreadsheetUrl}
• Docs create: {status: "created", documentId, title, url}
• Docs append: {status: "appended", documentId, inserted_at, characters}

Hard Rules

1. Never send email, create/delete calendar events, delete Drive files, share files, or modify Docs/Sheets without confirming with the user first. Show what will be done (recipients, file IDs, content, share role) and ask for approval. For drive delete, prefer the default trash (reversible) over --permanent.
2. Check auth before first use — run setup.py --check. If it fails, guide the user through setup.
3. Use the Gmail search syntax reference for complex queries — load it with skill_view("google-workspace", file_path="references/gmail-search-syntax.md").
4. Calendar times must include timezone — always use ISO 8601 with offset (e.g., 2026-03-01T10:00:00-06:00) or UTC (Z).
5. Respect rate limits — avoid rapid-fire sequential API calls. Batch reads when possible.

Revoking Access

$GSETUP --revoke

Pitfalls

Verification

1. Auth check — run after setup or before first use:

   $GSETUP --check
   

   Expected output: AUTHENTICATED

2. Gmail read — verify email access:

   $GAPI gmail search "is:unread" --max 1
   

   Expected: JSON array (possibly empty [] if no unread mail).

3. Calendar read — verify calendar access:

   $GAPI calendar list
   

   Expected: JSON array of upcoming events.

4. Drive read — verify Drive access:

   $GAPI drive search "" --max 1
   

   Expected: JSON array of file objects.

5. Dependencies — if any command raises ModuleNotFoundError:

   $GSETUP --install-deps
   

   Then re-run the failing command.

Related Skills

• himalaya — Lightweight IMAP/SMTP email client. Prefer for email-only use cases to avoid the Google Cloud OAuth setup overhead. Works with a Gmail App Password.